Youprobablyhearitallthetime—peopletellingyouto“learnEnglish”.ButdoesthismeanchildreninEnglish-speakingcountriesdon’tneedtobotherlearninganewlanguage?Notatall.Infact,anevenlargernumberofyoungpeoplewillsoonbetaughtforeignlanguages,thankstothementaladvantagesofbilingualism.

Psychologistsoncethoughtthatgrowingupbilingualmightleadtoverbaldelays－alateorabsentdevelopmentoftalking.ButUSmagazineScientificAmericanhasrevealedthatthisisnottrue,andreportedthatchildrenwhospeakmorethanonelanguage“showgreatermentalflexibility,asuperiorgraspofabstractconceptsandabetterworkingmemory.”AstheNewYorkTimesputit,“beingbilingual,itturnsout,makesyousmarter.”

InEurope,learningforeignlanguagesisincreasinglypopular.AEuropeanreportshowsthatfrom2005-2010,thepercentageofEuropeanstudentslearningaforeignlanguagerosefrom67.5percentto79.2percent.MostEuropeankidsstartlearninganotherlanguageatage6.InBelgium,itstartsat3.NewreformsbeingintroducedintheUKwillmeanallchildrencouldbetaughtaforeignlanguage,suchasMandarinorGreek,fromtheageof7.ThemostpopularforeignlanguageforEuropeankidswasEnglish,followedbyGermanandFrench.

Incomparison,Americansdon’tgiveafigforlearningforeignlanguages.Comparedto50percentofEuropeanadultswhoarebilingual,only9percentofadultsintheUSarefluentinmorethanonelanguage,accordingtoa2011report.Americanstudentsareoftennotexposedtoasecondlanguageuntilhighschool.

However,recentstatisticsshowdemandisgrowingintheUSforpeopletobecomemorebilingual.AccordingtoaUSATodaychartreleasedinJuly,21percentofUSchildrenspeakanotherlanguageathome.Anumberofinstitutionsinthecountryarealsopushingforeignlanguagesinschools.ThreeschooldistrictsinDelawarewilllaunchChineseandSpanishprogramsnextyear.MorepeoplearelearningChinese,FrenchandSpanish.

小题1:Psychologistusedtobelievethatchildrenwhogrowupbilingual________.